The eFactory Members & Partners Named Excellence in Technology Finalists

January 10, 2018January 11, 2018

Tell Us Something We Didn’t Know

Here’s the deal: We know that our members and partners are flat out amazing. We work with them every day, and witness firsthand everything they do to grow their businesses, support the community, and make Springfield a little cooler for all of us.

And because we know how amazing they are, we get super excited to see their hard work being recognized outside these four walls. This building may actually have more than four sides. It’s oddly shaped. But still.

Excellence in Technology Awards Finalists

Community Impact Award:

Oh boy. This category might be our favorite because we’re affiliated with ALL THREE finalists! What?! We’re proud supporters of (and hosts to) Hack4GoodSGF, an annual coding competition that engages teams from local high schools, colleges, and the workforce for one weekend while they build an app for a local nonprofit. Last year’s competition was all about iPourLife, and it was awesome. People putting their skills to work for the community we know and love? That’s what we like.

You can’t talk about Hack4Good without mentioning MATA (Mid-America Technology Alliance) since they’re the driving force behind the event. We love being involved with these folks and all they do to advance the tech community in Springfield. Swing by The eFactory for their monthly Idea Mashup to get a taste.

The third finalist is…us! We’re honored to be in such good company with good friends.

Most Innovative Startup Award:

We’re thrilled to see that two of these three finalists are alumni from our accelerator program. Chad Boschert’s Apt Crowd is revolutionizing the way users interact with online forums, providing better answers faster than ever before.

And The Daily Scholar is bringing a massive wave of change to the learning management scene (remember how much you hated Blackboard?). They’re both focused on innovative solutions that improve users’ experiences, and they’re the perfect fit for this roundup.

Enterprise Technology Award:

Eagle Speak. What can be said that hasn’t already? Startup Weekend winner, Audience Favorite Award, SPIN66 Pitch Pit winner, Most Innovative Startup in 2017 – the list goes on and on.

The Eagle Speak team was part of our accelerator’s first cohort, and they’ve been in the building with us since. What’s that? You haven’t signed up for the beta yet? Fix that now.

Developer of the Year Award:

Mr. Myke Bates is in the running! He’s a founder and the CTO at Eagle Speak AND he works full time as an associate digital director at The Alchemedia Project. Myke also founded SGF Web Devs, a group that’s grown to more than 400 people and hosts monthly meetups at The eFactory (where else?!). We’re not sure when he sleeps.

Rising Star:

It goes without saying that we have a pretty dynamic mix of people in the building each day. Working professionals, MSU engineering students, and high school students from more than a dozen local districts studying IT and entrepreneurship. Brenden Reeves is one of those students, and he’s most definitely a rising star. Brenden spends half of his school day working on technology projects as part of the GO CAPS program we’re proud to be home to.

Brenden’s currently working with Big Cedar to develop a shuttle hailing app, similar to Uber and Lyft. So the next time you’re in Branson and can easily summon a shuttle, thank this guy. Our folks in the building were so impressed they’ve even hired him! That’s right – GO CAPS student, OTC Computer Science tutor, and working part-time for Cart32. Feeling like an under achiever yet?

These Things Take Work

So shout-out to (another amazing partner) Biz417 for putting this together, and to this year’s judges for reading more than 70 nominations! We can’t wait to celebrate together at the Excellence in Technology Awards Ceremony on March 1 at The Old Glass Place.